Swine flu vaccinations open to general public

LAKEWOOD – County health officials opened their stocks of swine flu vaccines to the general public Monday, only five days ahead of the next round of scheduled vaccination clinics.

“Now that the majority of our high-risk population has been vaccinated, we are making vaccine available to anyone who wants it,” said Dr. Mark B. Johnson, director of the Jefferson County Public Health Department.

The changes comes as swine flu infection rates continue a sharp decline in Lakewood, Jefferson County and the state as a whole, but the annual return of seasonal flu is looming and finding a seasonal flu shot could take a bit of looking.

The decision to widen access to the county health agency’s stock of H1N1 vaccine was coordinated with the Colorado Department of Public Health after “careful review of JCPH current vaccine distribution and availability,” according to Monday’s announcement.

As of Monday, the county health agency had received 101,900 doses of swine flu vaccine, but has distributed 82,274 doses to its high priority populations, which include children between 6 months and 24 years old, adults 25 years to 64 years of age with underlying health conditions, pregnant women, families and caretakers of children under 6 months of age and health-care workers.

A slow-down in demand for vaccinations from people in the high-risk groups indicates most of them have been vaccinated, said Kodi Bryant, Jeffco Healthspokeswoman .

More than 15,000 doses of vaccine will be available for available for the upcoming free clinics on a first-come, first-served basis, according to the announcement. Free nasal spray doses also will be available at the clinics this weekend and next.

Consent forms are available on Jeffco Health’s clinic web page and should be completed and taken to the vaccination clinic. People are urged to e-mail the agency at publichealthclinics@jeffco.us listing the clinic they plan to attend.

The county health agency conducted its first round of public vaccination clinics Nov. 21. Another round is planned Saturday, Dec. 12 and a third date – Dec. 19 – has been added to the schedule, reflecting the increasing availability of the H1N1 vaccine.

The Dec. 12 and Dec. 19 swine flu vaccination clinics, which are coordinated by the county health agency and the Visiting Nurse Association, will be at Alameda High School: 1255 South Wadsworth Boulevard, Lakewood, 9 a.m. – 3: p.m.; Arvada High School: 7951 W. 65th Ave., Arvada, 9 a.m. – 3 p.m., Columbine High School: 6201 South Pierce St., Littleton, 9 a.m. – 3 p.m.; and Evergreen High School: 29300 Buffalo Park Road, Evergreen, 10 a.m. – 3 p.m.

Health Officials remain cautious about characterizing H1N1 as on the decline in Colorado.

“With the H1N1, we just don’t know,” Bryant said last week. “We don’t know what to expect from it. We can’t count it out just yet, even though we are seeing a lull with it. We can’t say that it’s going away because this is the first time we have ever had it.”

Figures for the week of Nov. 28, the most recent available, show the rate of swine flu infection in Jeffco is at it’s lowest point since late August. Only one influenza case required hospitalization in the county that week and that patient had the seasonal flu, not H1N1, according to information from the Colorado Department of Health and Environment.

Since the Colorado Department of Public Health began tracking flu cases in the state during the summer, 180 Jefferson County residents have required hospital care because of confirmed flu cases. Of those, 131 patients had swine flu. The remaining patients were suffering from seasonal flu. Fifty-six people – nine children and 47 adults – have died from the flu statewide since the end of August.

The state agency’s figures show that 1,888 flu victims have been hospitalized for treatment of the flu in that period.

While only time will tell whether this strain of swine flu will return in full force, supplies of vaccine are growing as is the list of priority recipients who already have been vaccinated against the pandemic disease that began its march across the globe last summer.

Three Colorado counties – El Paso, Pueblo and Weld – already have widened access to their stocks of swine flu vaccine.

Meanwhile, health agencies are waiting for the other shoe to drop.

“Seasonal (flu) hasn’t really hit us yet, so we are expecting an upturn and, of course, that can last until May,” Bryant said.

Jeffco Health’s stocks of seasonal flu vaccine have been depleted and Bryant suggests that folks contact the Visiting Nurse Association for information on locating those vaccinations.

“They have seasonal vaccine available. They are the only ones that I know of at this point, but we are telling people to go to the Immunize Colorado web site to check,” Bryant said. “I wouldn’t characterize it as in short supply … there are a lot of people who got their (seasonal) vaccinations early.”